It is my pleasure to announce that Janet S. Lee, MD, has been named the new Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine effective January 3, 2023. Dr. Lee is currently a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPMC) and holds the UPMC Chair in Acute Lung Injury.
Dr. Lee did her residency at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, followed by a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle. She joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine in 2004 and has been Professor of Medicine since 2016.
Dr. Lee is an internationally renowned pulmonary and critical care physician scientist, with clinical responsibilities in the intensive care unit and the inpatient advanced lung diseases ward where she cares for patients with acute and chronic respiratory failure. She is the Director of the Acute Lung Injury Center of Excellence as well as the Director of the Pulmonary Translational Research Core. Her research centers on the host response to severe lower respiratory tract infection and the molecular basis of distinct host-pathogen interactions triggering lung injury. She has a superb track record performing basic and translational discovery research with longstanding funding from the NIH. She is currently PI on two NIH/NHLBI R01 grants on host protection against pathogen secreted proteases in acute lung injury and host control mechanisms in lung infections, a K24 in patient oriented research in acute lung injury, an R21 on complement components and activity in the ARDSNet cohort, an R38 STARR training grant for residents and she is a project leader on a PO1 on immunosuppression in acute lung injury. Her research has led to over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts, articles, editorials and book chapters. Dr. Lee is an active teacher and mentor and has trained over 22 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees within her own laboratory. She has held leadership roles in the American Thoracic Society, most recently serving as Chair of the ATS Membership Committee. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Lee to her new leadership role as Division Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
The division has thrived under the longstanding direction of Michael J. Holtzman, MD, the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary Diseases. Under Dr. Holtzman’s visionary leadership, the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine experienced remarkable growth in the scope and depth of clinical programs, research, and educational activities.
Dr. Holtzman is a distinguished physician scientist who has received numerous honors and awards including the WU Distinguished Investigator Award, the Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award, election to the Association of American Physicians, Keystone Scientific Advisory Board, and the NIH Outstanding Investigator Award. He serves as Chair of the NIH/NHLBI Review Panel for collaborative research at the NIH Clinical Research Center and member of the Department of Defense (DOD) Review Panel. His own research has been extremely productive, focusing on antiviral immune responses as pathways for pathogenesis and targets for drug discovery in respiratory diseases. Dr. Holtzman is currently funded by an NIAID R01, an R35 NHLBI Outstanding Investigator Award, an STTR R41 to develop a new small molecule kinase inhibitor for airway disease, a DOD PRMRP Technology/Therapeutic Development Award to develop a new kinase inhibitor for COPD, and a DOD award for new therapies for post viral lung diseases. He is also the principal investigator of the longstanding and very successful NHLBI pulmonary T32 training grant.
Under Dr. Holtzman’s leadership, the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division has become extremely successful with important national prominence in basic research in acute and chronic lung disease, clinical care and education in multiple subspecialty areas including epithelial biology, lung transplantation, critical care, Cystic Fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease, interventional pulmonary, asthma, COPD, critical care, and sarcoidosis. Throughout the COVID pandemic they have provided exceptional clinical care and important research under very difficult circumstances.
We are all incredibly grateful to Dr. Holtzman for his outstanding leadership and vision in building the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division to its current premier status. We are fortunate that he is continuing his very successful research here at Washington University. Please join me in thanking Dr. Holtzman for his outstanding research and leadership contributions.
Dr. Lee is exceptionally qualified to take on this new role. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Lee to Washington University as the Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine.